Youngsters have trouble in understanding the reason why Sachin is so admired by Indians. The stats don’t tell them the story, they find weaknesses, glitches, mistakes in them. The stats make him look good but is that all there is to Sachin?
I have been following him ever since I was hooked by his performance in the first 20/20 between Pak and India.
With Sachin it was not only about his batting. I won’t be wrong if I say that he is THE most famous and well known cricketer in the world ever. Kids look up to him even in third world countries. Only Sachin could have done an AD for milk in Saudi Arabia where there is no cricket.
He has been the face of cricket for a long time, he was the one who brought money to cricket and big sponsorship deals. He made Indians watch cricket and this was the beginning of BCCI being rich. He was a major factor in propagating ODI cricket in India. Big media houses and companies started their interest in cricket because of him. He was the First big and the greatest cricket icon. Bradman was revered but Sachin was a real cricket celebrity. In a poll conducted in 98, only 40% of people in India (particularly rural) knew Vajpayee(the then Prime Minister) but 99% knew about Sachin. He was above Mahatma Gandhi in the popularity charts. Even ones without access to TV/newspapers knew about Sachin and when their children bunked studies to play, would say “Sachin samjha hai kya khud ko?”
He was a revolution in cricket. In the late 80s cricket was a snobbish game in India watched by intellectuals in a group in one’s drawing room. By the late 90s, and 2000s common labourers on the street left their jobs in which they were payed by the hour to stand and stare at TV screens in a showroom window or stay glued to the radio (remember AakashVaani?) till the time he was at the crease.
Never before had one man brought such hopes to a whole nation. India was rife in corruption. Rajiv Gandhi was killed. Sycophancy was everywhere. Bribe was the way of life. People had given up hope of India achieving much as a nation. Sachin was that bright ray which made people forget for a while their day to day trouble.
Unlike today when we have the luxury, Sachin was never cursed even when he failed. Who curses their idol? It was always the other players, umpires, the world. Every four/six from his bat was a victory in itself. We enjoyed him making great bowlers look ordinary, though at the other end the procession had started and we probably lost by an innings. The result was never discussed, that was something un-necessary. People watched cricket for Sachin and not the other way around. TVs where switched off as soon as he was out. If India batted second, the TV would be given a ‘rest’(a very Indian phrase) till the big event. We would have time to finish off our pending work before Sachin came to open.
Every praise which a contempory player/ex-player sang about Sachin made the blood rush to our face as if the compliment was meant for us and the whole country. Through it all his humble demeanor elevated him to legendary status which no brashness or arrogance would have achieved.
Stats do not tell the whole picture always. Society has become result oriented now. For us, the journey was worth the experience. A lost match was just like a great Bollywood movie with a sad end where the hero died saving everyone. Despite his defeat, he still remained for us, a hero. Sachin Tendulkar is much more than mere stats. For a long time he carried the mantle of a billion hopes successfully, he provided them a few moments of relief from their wretched life, all this while remaining the same humble chap from Mumbai.

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